Switch-thawing apparatus.



T. M. DUNNING.

SWITCH THAWING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3,19]?- Patented May 7,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

v T. M. DUNNING.

SWITCH THAWING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man Aucha, 1911.

Patent ed May 7, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

36 R, m Mu,

5mm gxxomwemwunmlupg THOMAS M. DUNNING, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

SWITCH-THAWING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May '7, 1918.

Application filed August 3, 1917. Serial No. 184,268.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, THOMAS M. DUNNING, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in thecounty of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Switch-Thawing Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to a class of apparatus adapted to be used onrailroad beds.

My invention has for its object primarily to provide an apparatusdesigned to be employed on the beds of railroads whereby the movableparts of switches and frogs when clogged, or frozen with snow and icemay be quickly thawed so as to be operable without requiring the snowand ice to be manually removed by the use of picks, shovels and otherimplements. The invention consists essentially of one or twoseries ofsupports, and the supports of each series are adapted to be fixed inspaced relation under two coasting rails. On each support is a heaterpreferably in the form of a receptacle for holding inflammable material,and each receptacle is mounted on its support so as to be guided to andfrom under the rails above its bracket as well as being adapted to betilted to allow part of its contents to be emptied.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a shield for beingremovably applied on each support whereby the flame of the material inits receptacle when ignited may be protected from wind blowing crosswiseof the rails; and to provide one or two tilting devices so that water,or snow, or the like when accumulated in the receptacles may be removedfrom each series in unison,

With these and other objects in view the invention will be hereinaftermore particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawingswhich form a part of this specification, in which similar characters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and will thenbe pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary View, showing a top plan of arailway switch and the manner of employing my thawing apparatus inconjunction therewith. I i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view,

showing a top plan of one of the heaters used in the apparatus.

1 Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, showing a side elevation ofthe heater illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line IVIV of F ig, 2, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken transversely through a receptacle of adifferent shape from that shown in Fig. 4.

The thawing apparatus includes one or two series of correspondingsupports, as 10 and 11, and each series may consist of any desirednumber of the supports, one series being arranged between the cross ties11 of the bed of a railroad under two of the coacting rails 12 and 13 ofa switch, or frog, while the other series is also likewise arrangedbetween the crossties under the second pair of coasting rails 14 and 15of the switch. Each of the supports is pref erably in the form of a bar,or rod with an arm 16 of a length so that both of its ends will extendin opposite lateral directions beyond the sides of the pair of railsunder which they are arranged, and one end of each rod is bent toprovide a right angularly disposed arm 17 as well as a downwardlydisposed arm 18. This downwardly extending arm of each support of eachseries may be attached to the central part of one of the side edges ofone of its next adjacent crossties by being passed through two eyes 19and 20, Figs. 2 and 3, so that the free end of the arm 16 of the supportwill be disposed in spaced parallel relation to its supporting cross tieunder its respective pair of the rails toward the free end of thecrosstie, as shown. The free end of the arm 16 of each support maythereby be moved slightly upwardly and also moved away from thecrosstie. The free end of the arm 16 of each support of each series maybe movably supported on a swinging bracket, as 21, and each of thesebrackets is preferably made of a bar, or rod having one of its end partsrotatably disposed through a pair of spaced eyes 22 and 23 provided onthe crosstie to which the arm 18 of the support is attached, while theother end part of the rod, or bracket is right angularly bent so thatthe arm 16 of the support will rest thereon. By this arrangement thebrackets 21 of all the supports may be swung, as indicated at 24,

Fig. 2, back and forth under the arm 16 of its respective support.

On each of the supports of each series is a heater, as 25, and all ofthese heaters may be similarly constructed. Each of the heat ers 25 isin the form of a receptacle for holding a suitable quantity ofinflammable material, such as crude oil, kerosene, or other fuel,adapted when ignited to produce suliicient heat to me t snow, ice andhail. The receptacle 2.5 of each series may be made with an elongatedbody 26 of substantially a semiircular shape, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 andat, or the body may be of an angular shape, as illustrated in Fig. 5,and on the ends of the body of each receptacle are walls, as 27 and 28.The body of each of the receptacles, or heaters 25 is slidably mountedon its respective support by providing in opposite parts of each bodycontiguous to its open top as well as eccent ically with relation to itscenter two registered holes 29 and 30 through which the arm 16 of thesupport of the receptacle is passed following the swinging of thei.-shaped bracket 21, as above explained. One of the end walls of eachof the receptacles is thereby disposed in opposition to its supportingcrosstie, and each receptacle is preferably of a length so as to bespaced from its supporting crosstie. By prov ring the receptacles, orheaters in this manner on their supports the receptacles of each seriesmay be slidably guided back and forth under the pairs of railsthereabove and may also be tilted in an end-up "ard fashion.

The receptacle, or heaters may be supplied with a suitable quantity offuel for ready use during cold weather, and if par tially filled withthe fuel water, or snow, or hail will necessarily accumulate at periodson top of the fuel in the receptacles. In order to permit this foreignmatter to be readily removed so that the fuel may be ignited whendesired, 1 pro ide two corresponding tilting devices, as 81 and 32, foroperating in unison all of the receptacles, or heaters of each series.Each of the tilting devices 31 and 82 has a bar 33, and both of thesebars are disposed longitudi nally above the crossties between each pairof the railsof the switch and the ends of the crossties as well as beingarranged above the outer ends of the supports 10 and 11 of thereceptacles. The bars 33 of the tilting devices are also of lengths sothat each embraces all of the receptacles of its respective series, andthe ends of each bar may be rotatably mounted in two brackets, as 34 and35, extending upwardly from two of the crossties. On one of thecorresponding ends of the bars 33 are crank handles 36 and 37, and atspaced intervals on each bar are provided depending hooks, as 38. Thesehooks of each bar are arranged in the paths of movements of thereceptacles thereunder so that when the receptacles of each series areguided in opposite lateral directions toward the swinging brackets, orL-shaped rods 21 of the supports 10 and 11 each hook may be removablyinserted in an opening 39 provided in the upper part of the end wall 27of each of the receptacles. By then turning the crank handles 36 and 37upwardly, as shown in Fig. 8, all of the receptacles will be tilted forpouring therefrom the water, or removing snow, or ice which mayaccumulate in the receptacles on top of the fuel, the ice beingpreviously broken before its removal.

The receptacles, or heaters 25 of each series are arranged so as to beslidably adjustable on their supports in close proximity to theundersides of the rails thereabove, and to cause the receptacles to bemovably held in even balanced order, projecting laterally from oppositeparts of the upper edge of the body 26 of each receptacle may be twolugs, as -10 and i1, adapted to abut against the undersides of the railsto prevent the receptacles from rocking lengthwise.

Serving to protect the flame of the burning fuel when ignited againstwind blowing crosswise of the rails, on each of the receptacles, orheaters 25 of both series may be removably applied a shield, as 12, allof which are similarly formed, it being understood that when the wind isblowing in a direction lengthwise of the rails the flame of the burningfuel will be shifted to ad- 'antageousiy melt the ice and snow betweenthe rails. Each of the shields 42 is preferably in the form of asubstantially rectangular plate of a length somewhat longer than each ofthe receptacles, and each plate is of a width to extend from a planecorresponding with the bottom of the receptacle to some distancethereabove. The upper part len thwise of each plate may be angularlybent, as shown, and extending from the centralpart of each plateintermediate its ends is a downwardly depending clip, or hook, as Whenthe wind is blowing crosswise of the rails from one direction during theburning of the fuel in the receptacles, one of the shields is removablyapplied on each support of one series by the hooks of the shields beingguided for instance over the arms 17 of one series of the supports, andif desired another shield may be removably applied on each support ofthe second series by providing shields with the hooks 13 in spacedproximity to their second ends to allow the hooks to be guided over thebrackets 21 of the supports. l/Vhen the wind is blowing crosswise of therails from an opposite direction the series of shields are reverselyarranged by being removably applied to the other ends of theirrespective supports. Thus I provide a simple, eflicient and durablethawing apparatus for quickly melting snow and ice when clogging themovable parts of railway switches, frogs and the like. H

In the foregoing description, have embodied the preferred. form of myinvention, but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myselfthereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the principle, or sacrificing any of the advantages ofthis invention, therefore I reserve tomyself the right to make suchchanges as fairly fall within the scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a switch thawing apparatus, a series of separateheaters adapted to be supported on guides under two coacting rails so asto be guided to and from under the rails.

2. In a switch thawing apparatus, a series of separate heaters adaptedto be supported under two coacting rails so as to be guided to and fromunder the rails, and a shield adapted to be removably applied on eachheater to protect the flame of the heater when ignited from wind blowingcrosswise of the rails.

3. In a switch thawing apparatus, a series of separate heaters adaptedto be supported under two coacting rails whereby the heaters may betilted as well as being guided to and from under the rails, and a deviceoperable for tilting the heaters in unison.

4. In a switch thawing apparatus, a series of separate supports adaptedto be fixed in spaced relation under two coacting rails, and areceptacle for holding inflammable material, adjustable on each bracketso as to be guided to and from under the rails above its bracket.

5. In a switch thawing apparatus, a series of separate sup-ports adaptedto be fixed in spaced relation under'two coacting rails, a receptaclefor holding inflammable material adjustable on each bracket so as to beguide to and from under the rails above its bracket, and a shieldadapted to be removably applied on each bracket to protect the flame ofthe material in its receptacle when ignited from wind blowing crosswiseof the rails.

6. In a switch thawing apparatus, a series of separate supports adaptedto be fixed in spaced relation under two coacting rails, a receptaclefor holding inflammable material ad ustabIe on each bracket so as to beguide to and from under the rails above its bracket as well as beingadapted to be tilted up- ,wardly and a manually operable device forwardly, a shield adapted to be removab applied on each bracket toprotect the flame of the material in its receptacle when ignited fromwind blowing crosswise of the rails, and a manually operable device fortilting all the receptacles in unison.

8. In a switch thawing apparatus, a rod adapted to be fixed on acrosstie under two coacting rails, and a receptacle for holdinginflammable material, adjustable on the rod so as to be guided to andfrom under the rails.

9. In a switch thawing apparatus a rod adapted to be fixed on a crosstieunder two coacting rails, a receptacle for holding inflammable material,adjustable on the rod so as to be guided to and from under the rails,and a shield adapted to be removably applied on the rod to protect theflame of the material in the receptacle when ignited from wind blowingcrosswise of the rails.

10. In a switch thawing apparatus, a rod adapted to be fixed on acrosstie under two coacting rails, a rece tacle for holding inflammablematerial, a justable on the rod So as to be guided to and from under therails, a shield adapted to be removably applied on the rod to protectthe flame of the material in the receptacle when ignited from windblowing crosswise of the rails, and manually operable means adapted tobe removably connected to the rod for tilting the receptacle.

This specification signed and witnessed this 2d day of August A. D.1917.

THOMASM. DUNN ING.

Witnesses:

EVERETT W. J omss, V. M. RUMPH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." I

